Town of Bloomfield v. Academy of Medicine of N. J.
| Decision Date | 27 June 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. A--135,A--135 |
| Citation | 221 A.2d 15,47 N.J. 358 |
| Parties | TOWN OF BLOOMFIELD, a municipal corporation, Petitioner-Respondent, v. The ACADEMY OF MEDICINE OF NEW JERSEY, Respondent-Appellant. |
| Court | New Jersey Supreme Court |
John R. Weigel, Newark, for appellant (Steelman, Lafferty, Rowe & McMahon, Newark, attorneys, James L. R. Lafferty, Newark, of counsel, John R. Weigel, Newark, on the brief).
Joseph D. Lintott, Newark, for respondent.
We granted certification on appellant's petition (46 N.J. 56, 214 A.2d 707 (1965)) from so much of the judgment of the Appellate Division (87 N.J.Super. 595, 210 A.2d 420 (1965)) as affirms the judgment of the State Division of Tax Appeals which held taxable appellant's property known as Block 517, Lot 23, 317 Belleville Avenue, Bloomfield, New Jersey. The sole question is whether appellant's property meets the test within the meaning of N.J.S.A. 54:4--3.6 holding as tax-exempt, property which is 'actually and exclusively used in the work of associations and corporations organized exclusively for the moral and mental improvement of men, women and children * * *.' Appellant has specifically abandoned before us the argument that its property is tax-exempt by virtue of its use for 'colleges, schools, academies and seminaries,' as provided for in the same section.
For the 1960 year respondent levied an assessment of $17,200 on this property--$9,200 on land and $8,000 on improvements which consisted of a building containing executive offices of The Academy of Medicine, meeting rooms, rooms with historical material of The Academy and of medicine in New Jersey, and a barn-type structure in the rear used solely for storage purposes.
The Academy appealed to the Essex County Board of Taxation on the ground that all its properties were exempt from taxation under N.J.S.A. 54:4--3.6. A hearing was held and the Essex County Board of Taxation cancelled said assessments. Bloomfield then appealed to the Division of Tax Appeals which reversed the judgments of the county board and reinstated the assessments on both properties.
The Academy then appealed to the Appellate Division which affirmed the judgment of the Division of Tax Appeals relating to 317 Belleville Avenue. At the same time, the Appellate Division remanded to the Division of Tax Appeals that portion of the appeal concerning the exempt status of the Library (307 Belleville Avenue) itself for the purpose of allowing the parties to present evidence as to whether the library is exempt as 'actually and exclusively used as a public library' under N.J.S.A. 54:4--3.6. As will appear from the discussion upon the exempt status of the executive office building we find that the remand is unnecessary by virtue of our holding the 317 Belleville Avenue building to be tax-exempt.
Concededly, appellant was organized under the name 'The Academy of Medicine of Northern New Jersey' by a group of physicians and dentists as a nonprofit association, pursuant to L.1898, c. 181, p. 422, 'An Act to incorporate associations not for pecuniary profit,' as amended (which law is the source of N.J.S.A. 15:1--1, et seq.), and L.1907, c. 247, p. 587, 'An Act to provide for the incorporation of pathological and anatomical associations for the advancement of medical and surgical science,' as amended, which is the source of N.J.S.A. 45:9--43 et seq. At the time of The Academy's founding in 1911 New Jersey lacked a medical or dental school and had few resources for post-graduate medical or dental education. The name of appellant was changed to 'The Academy of Medicine of New Jersey' on March 10, 1953. The Academy was located in Newark from the time of its founding until April 1959, when it moved to Bloomfield.
The objects of the appellant are stated in its Certificate of Incorporation as follows:
'The purposes for which the Association shall be formed are pathological and anatomical study and investigation, and the advancement and promotion of medical and surgical science, by such means as to them shall appear expedient and proper, and also maintenance of a public medical library.'
Appellant has a membership of over 1,800 physicians and dentists. It maintains the medical library of over 30,000 volumes, which is the largest medical library in New Jersey. The library is open to the public and is used by elementary and high school students, medical and dental students, lawyers and non-member doctors and dentists as well as members of the Academy.
The building at 317 Belleville Avenue contains the executive offices of the Academy, meeting room and rooms containing historical material of The Academy and of medicine in New Jersey. The meeting rooms are also used by an experimental group which is not associated with the Academy. The president of the Academy illustratively cited additional groups such as medical technologists, hospital laboratory technicians, the diabetics association and 'any groups that are interested in science or medical problems.' The building also serves as the administrative center for the educational courses which are conducted at hospitals in various parts of New Jersey. These educational courses consist of series of lectures and discussions conducted for local physicians and dentists thus enabling the doctors to obtain current medical information without leaving the local area.
The Academy also conducts symposia open to the public on subjects of broad general interest such as poliomyelitis, the use or the artificial kidney, congenital abnormalities, automobile injuries, emergency ambulance service, fluoridation and alcoholism. As an example, several years ago the Academy sponsored a symposium on the advantages and necessity of oral polio vaccine, the principal speakers including Dr. Albert Bruce Sabin and Dr. Herald Rea Cox. This particular symposium was attended largely by members of the general public. Because of the number of people who attend these symposia, they are usually conducted away from The Academy's properties in Bloomfield but are directed from the 317 Belleville Avenue property. The Academy publishes a Bulletin which provides current information on the various areas of medicine and also reports the results of the various symposia sponsored by The Academy. The Bulletin is distributed throughout the world.
The fundamental approach of our statutes is that ordinarily all property shall bear its just and equal...
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